3.5

205MainStage Instruments
Use ring modulation in MainStage ES2
Ring modulation is a powerful tool for the creation of inharmonic, metallic, bell-like sounds.
The spectra resulting from its use are inharmonic at almost every frequency ratio. The ring
modulator is a device that dates back to the early days of the synthesizer.
A ring modulator has two inputs. At the output you hear both the sum and difference
frequencies of the input signals. If you ring modulate a sine oscillation of 200Hz with a
sine oscillation of 500Hz, the output signal of the ring modulator consists of a 700Hz
(sum) and a 300Hz (difference) signal. Negative frequencies result in a change to the
phase polarity of output signals.
Tip: Use sawtooth and rectangular (pulse width modulated) input signals from
oscillators 1 and 2, respectively, to create a much more complex output signal. The use
of these harmonically rich waveforms results in a number of extra sidebands becoming
audible.
Create a ring-modulated sound
1. In MainStage, set the oscillator 2 Wave knob to the Ring setting.
2. Experiment with different Frequency (main and fine tune) values for one, or both,
oscillators.
The oscillator2 ring modulator is fed with the output signal of oscillator1 and a square
wave, generated by oscillator2 itself. The pulse width of this square wave can be
modulated (see Use pulse width modulation in MainStage ES2).
Use MainStage ES2 Digiwaves
In addition to the basic synthesizer waveforms, all ES2oscillators provide 100 additional
waveforms, called Digiwaves. These are very short samples of the attack transients of
various sounds and instruments.